1 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio and how the tech 4 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: are you. In yesterday's news episode, I opened the show 5 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 1: by talking about the passing of Gordon Moore, an important 6 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:32,240 Speaker 1: figure in the world of tech today. I thought we'd 7 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: look a little bit into his history and talk about 8 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:38,279 Speaker 1: the man and where he came from and some of 9 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:42,600 Speaker 1: his contributions to technology. Along the way, we'll learn why 10 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:47,159 Speaker 1: he was dubbed traitorous by a former employer, along with 11 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,200 Speaker 1: seven of his co workers. We'll talk a bit about 12 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: Moore's law and what that originally meant versus how we 13 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: typically interpret it today, and of course we'll chat a 14 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: bit about a tiny little company he co found called Intel. 15 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: Gordon Moore was born on January third, nineteen twenty nine. 16 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: That would turn out to be a pretty darn eventful year, 17 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: because in August the world would enter the Great Depression, 18 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: which would affect the economy for a full decade. Fortunately 19 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,680 Speaker 1: for the Moore family, they were not you know, Wall 20 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: Street investors. They didn't lose their shirts in the Great Depression. Now, 21 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: his father was a deputy sheriff of a little town 22 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: called Pescadero, which was on the coast of California, so 23 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: just a little bit south of San Francisco, and his 24 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:48,760 Speaker 1: mother ran a general store in town, so his family 25 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: was not as directly hit by the depression as many 26 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: others were. Now. Early on, Gordon Moore said that his 27 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: ambition was to become a teacher. He was very interested 28 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: in science, specifically in chemistry, and he enrolled in San 29 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: Jose State College, and that's where he would meet his 30 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: future wife, Betty Whittaker. The two would be married for 31 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: more than seventy years. They actually got married in nineteen fifty. 32 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:23,800 Speaker 1: That was the same year that Moore had graduated with 33 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: his undergrad degree. He had transferred to the University of California, 34 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: Berkeley and completed his undergrad degree there, and he earned 35 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:37,239 Speaker 1: his degree in chemistry. He then continued his studies at 36 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: cal Tech. He had postgraduate work and Moore would earn 37 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:46,520 Speaker 1: a doctorate, also in chemistry. Rather than pursue a career 38 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 1: in teaching, he applied for a position at Dow Chemical. However, 39 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: accloid Moore during a psychological evaluation for the part of 40 00:02:55,880 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: the hiring process, a Dow representative determined that More didn't 41 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: have what it takes to be a manager. They said 42 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,919 Speaker 1: that his technical skills were suitable, that he had strong 43 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 1: skills in the field of science, but that he would 44 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: not make a good manager. Considering what would happen later 45 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: in Moore's life, this assessment should go down as one 46 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: of the dumbest ones in tech history. But hey, once 47 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: upon a time I worked for consultants who would do 48 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: things like leadership assessments, and based upon the stuff that 49 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:32,359 Speaker 1: I was reading, my own personal opinion is a lot 50 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: of those assessments are based on who he Again, that's 51 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: my own personal opinion, and I could be totally wrong 52 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: about that. I just got very jaded about it. Anyway, 53 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: back to the story. More needed a gig, So then 54 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: he took a position at Johns Hopkins University. But this 55 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: is in Baltimore. He joined their applied physics Laboratory. But 56 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: you know, Baltimore is in Maryland. That's on the opposite 57 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 1: side of the United States from California. So he was 58 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: about as far away as he could get from his 59 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: home while still being in the United States. And Moore's 60 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: extended family still lived out in California, so he didn't 61 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 1: really like working on the East Coast. So even though 62 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: he had steady work, he kept looking for opportunities that 63 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: would let him move back across the United States to 64 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: the West Coast, and one such opportunity arose at the 65 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Now this lab had Ernest Lawrence and 66 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: Edward Teller as co founders. Now those names might not 67 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 1: mean anything to you, but Edward Teller in particular is 68 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,920 Speaker 1: also sometimes referred to as the father of the hydrogen bomb. 69 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:49,279 Speaker 1: Though he didn't He didn't like that. He was a 70 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:53,919 Speaker 1: theoretical physicist and was notoriously difficult to work with. He 71 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: also earned a bad and arguably unjustified reputation after testifying 72 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:03,280 Speaker 1: in a hear to determine whether or not Robert Oppenheimer 73 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 1: should have his security clearance revoked. Teller was of the 74 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: opinion that it should, and ultimately it was. Anyway, episode 75 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,160 Speaker 1: is not about Edward Teller. I will have to do 76 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: another one about Teller in the future. I think I've 77 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: talked about him in past episodes. I'm certain I have, 78 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 1: and things like episodes about the Manhattan Project. But the 79 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: Livermore Lab was known primarily for work involving the research 80 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: and development of nuclear weapons. So Gordon Moore had this 81 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: opportunity to go and work for the Livermore Lab, and 82 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: he thought about this and ultimately decided that he was 83 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: not keen on the idea of working in the field 84 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: of nuclear weapons research and development. And you know, even 85 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: though he had the skills in chemistry and he had 86 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:55,039 Speaker 1: a good understanding of physics, he just didn't feel right 87 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: about dedicating his expertise toward making things go boom. But 88 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty six he got a different opportunity with a 89 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:09,360 Speaker 1: brand new startup division a company that was called Shockley Semiconductor. 90 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: This was a division of another company called Beckman Instruments Incorporated. 91 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: So the founder of the parent company, Arnold O. Beckman, 92 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: was a chemist and inventor who saw a potential in 93 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:26,359 Speaker 1: a brand new technology, one that was developed under the 94 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: management of William Shockley when he was working at Bell Labs. 95 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: This would be in the very late nineteen forties. Now 96 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: I've talked about William Shockley in old episodes of tech Stuff. 97 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,679 Speaker 1: He led a solid state physics group in Bell Labs, 98 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:47,080 Speaker 1: and under his watch that lab produced the world's first transistor. 99 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: It is impossible for me to overstate how important the 100 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: transistor is, how important it was, and how important it 101 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:04,239 Speaker 1: continues to be. It really is the basis for all 102 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: of electronics moving forward from that point. So to call 103 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: it a pivotal moment is being, you know, kind of 104 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: is kind of downplaying it. Really, Transistors can do all 105 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: sorts of stuff that's useful in circuits, but like the 106 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: basic ones, or things like being a way to direct 107 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:28,760 Speaker 1: electricity so that it flows along a specific path, or 108 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: to act as a switch to stop electricity from passing 109 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 1: through certain places, to being able to amplify a weak 110 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 1: signal into a stronger signal. Transistors would replace things that 111 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: were much larger components like vacuum tubes. So this meant 112 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: that the transistor would make it possible to miniaturize components 113 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 1: and create integrated electronics. So this is what allowed for 114 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: the era of miniaturization. When you hear things like a 115 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: transistor radio that was based upon this technology, and it 116 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: meant that a radio no longer had to be like 117 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: a piece of furniture that was large and had to 118 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,000 Speaker 1: sit either on top of a table or heck, it 119 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: might have been its own cabinet in the old radio days, 120 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: to something that you could fit in your pocket. That 121 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: would be what transistors would make possible, and it would 122 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: transform the technological world. So William Shockley his team developed 123 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: the very first transistor, and his research served as sort 124 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: of the foundation for this work. But it was actually 125 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: two of his lab text two of his employees who 126 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:44,680 Speaker 1: did the actual building. It was John Bardeen and Walter Bretagne, 127 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: two of Shockley's team who created the first working transistor. 128 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 1: There was a lot of animosity between Shockley and his team, 129 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 1: with disagreements regarding who should get credit for the invention 130 00:08:57,360 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: and that kind of thing. Shockley was always upset whenever 131 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 1: there were patents being filed for technologies that came out 132 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:05,839 Speaker 1: of his lab that didn't have his name on it, 133 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:08,560 Speaker 1: and then his team members would often bristle at that 134 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:12,560 Speaker 1: saying like, yeah, but you didn't do it, so your 135 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:15,600 Speaker 1: name shouldn't be on it. And it just turned out 136 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 1: that Shockley, like Edward Teller, was also notoriously difficult to 137 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: work with anyway. Putting aside his managerial limitations, Shockley had 138 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: received some support from Beckman to create Shockley Semiconductor Beckman 139 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 1: recognized that the semiconductor industry was going to be the 140 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:40,480 Speaker 1: next really big thing, and he wanted to make sure 141 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:44,079 Speaker 1: that he had a handle on it. So he felt 142 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 1: that it was important to have Shockley be able to 143 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: establish his own company. Although he had some reservations about 144 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:56,680 Speaker 1: Shockley's ability to lead people, it turns out those reservations 145 00:09:56,679 --> 00:09:59,679 Speaker 1: were well founded. One thing Shockley did have, though, was 146 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: a really good eye for talent. He started to recruit 147 00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: very bright prospects. Folks fresh out of postgraduate studies who 148 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: were on the cutting edge of scientific research were among 149 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: the top candidates. One person he had his zion was 150 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:19,439 Speaker 1: Gordon Moore. Gordon Moore was someone that Shockley approached during 151 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:25,040 Speaker 1: a meeting of the American Physical Society, so he actually 152 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: recruited more in person. In other cases, he reached out 153 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: to various West Coast post graduates, and in a few 154 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: cases he actually got attention by running advertising in the 155 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: Northeast because at the time, the semiconductor transistor world was 156 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 1: sort of coalescing in the New York area. That's where 157 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: Bell Labs was located. So that was a challenge because 158 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:58,319 Speaker 1: Shockley was locating his lab on the West coast. So 159 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:02,719 Speaker 1: to attract more talent, he actually ran essentially classified ads 160 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 1: in newspapers in the Northeast to attract people. And so 161 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:11,120 Speaker 1: this initial group came together to become the first team 162 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 1: at Shockley Semiconductor. All right, I've got more to say 163 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 1: about what happened over at Shockley and how Moore's career 164 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: would go from there. But before we get to that, 165 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break. Okay, So Gordon Moore joins 166 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,520 Speaker 1: a team along with a bunch of other notable people 167 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:42,760 Speaker 1: in technology over at Shockley Semiconductor, and it would not 168 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:45,400 Speaker 1: take long for things to go sour. More and his 169 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 1: co workers faced very tough conditions. They didn't always agree 170 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 1: with each other. For one thing, they had different ideas 171 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:58,839 Speaker 1: of what the best approach was toward developing semiconductors and transistors, 172 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:05,319 Speaker 1: so there was some disagreement even within their community of coworkers. 173 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:10,400 Speaker 1: But more than that, William Shockley was an aggressive, autocratic, 174 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:14,959 Speaker 1: and paranoid employer. I get the sense that he felt 175 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:16,880 Speaker 1: the need to be the smartest person in the room. 176 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:21,840 Speaker 1: But then he also gathered together talent for his pledgling 177 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:24,800 Speaker 1: company that consisted of some of the brightest minds and 178 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: science and engineering of the day. He reportedly distrusted the 179 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 1: work that his team created and would send the output 180 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:37,080 Speaker 1: to contexts that he still had at Bell Labs to 181 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:41,480 Speaker 1: double check their work. Which if you are, you know, 182 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: like a pre eminent researcher in your field, you are 183 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:48,320 Speaker 1: going to be insulted if your employer says, well, let 184 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:51,679 Speaker 1: me just send this off to a competitor to double 185 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 1: check your numbers. Shockley also insisted on testing each person 186 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,440 Speaker 1: with psychological analysis before hiring them on which you know, 187 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 1: and Moore had already gone through when he had applied 188 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:06,440 Speaker 1: for dal Chemical. William Shockley also allegedly planned to force 189 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,240 Speaker 1: his entire team to submit to a lie detector test 190 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:12,719 Speaker 1: at one point, but because everyone objected to it, he 191 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 1: let it drop. And I know that I talk a 192 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:19,720 Speaker 1: lot about demanding bosses in tech, you know, folks like 193 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:23,920 Speaker 1: Tim Cook or Elon Musk, who would demand that employees 194 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:27,840 Speaker 1: returned to the office. But honestly, when you look at 195 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 1: what William Shockley did, they ain't got nothing on him. 196 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 1: So anyway, Gordon Moore had joined Shockley Semiconductor in nineteen 197 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:39,360 Speaker 1: fifty six. By mid nineteen fifty seven, things had approached 198 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:43,360 Speaker 1: a point where they were intolerable. So more, with the 199 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:47,199 Speaker 1: support of several of his compatriots, met with Arnold Beckman, 200 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: the founder of the parent company that Shockley Semiconductor was under, 201 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:56,960 Speaker 1: and he said, Hey, either Shockley goes or we go. 202 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 1: We cannot continue this. You need to remove Shockley from 203 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:06,080 Speaker 1: being in a management position, put someone who has actual 204 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 1: management experience in his role, and I don't know, give 205 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:15,840 Speaker 1: Shockley like a really cushy professor position at some university. 206 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:19,960 Speaker 1: But Beckman declined to acquiesce to this request, and so 207 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 1: in September nineteen fifty seven, Gordon Moore and seven others 208 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 1: who were important people with Shockley Semiconductor left and founded 209 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: a new company with the help of a wealthy entrepreneur 210 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: named Sherman Fairchild. Fairchild already had a couple of companies 211 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:42,880 Speaker 1: to his name, including a camera company that worked closely 212 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:46,480 Speaker 1: with the military, and so they created a division called 213 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: Fairchild Semiconductor. These eight defectors from Shockley Semiconductor became known 214 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:57,400 Speaker 1: as the Traitorous Eight, though I don't know if Shockley 215 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 1: himself ever referred to them as the Traitors Eight. Shockley 216 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 1: would go on to alienate a lot more people and 217 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:10,120 Speaker 1: sadly adopted increasingly extremist views as he got older, including 218 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:14,240 Speaker 1: an interest in eugenics. But we'll leave him behind because 219 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: Gord Moorscher did. Now, if everyone within the eight were 220 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: on good terms with each other and were in agreement 221 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: with what the best approach to semiconductors and integrated circuits was, 222 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:32,240 Speaker 1: our story would likely pretty much stay with Fairchild Semiconductor 223 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 1: from here on out. But they didn't. There were disagreements. 224 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 1: There were different teams that were focused on different pathways 225 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 1: toward a goal, pathways that were not compatible with one another, 226 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: and so there were disagreements between the different teams about 227 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 1: which design or methodology was the best one to pursue, 228 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: which one was going to create the superior product, and 229 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:03,200 Speaker 1: things got pretty heated. They did have some unifying beliefs. 230 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:05,680 Speaker 1: There were things that the whole team agreed upon, and 231 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 1: one of those was that silicon was going to be 232 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:11,120 Speaker 1: the semiconductor material of the future. So at the time, 233 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 1: most research labs were working with germanium as the material 234 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: for semiconductors. But silicon is really very cheap. It is 235 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 1: like essentially sand, It's plentiful, it is not expensive, and 236 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:32,240 Speaker 1: the group argued that it would allow for cheaper electronics 237 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 1: once you reached a point where the integrated circus you 238 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:40,280 Speaker 1: were building were reliable and efficient, which would require a 239 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:42,840 Speaker 1: lot of R and D to get there. But they 240 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 1: saw silicon as being the most promising of the materials 241 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 1: and something that would ultimately be scalable, that you would 242 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 1: be able to build much more complicated electronics using silicon 243 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,800 Speaker 1: because of, you know, the fact that it's cheap and 244 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:02,960 Speaker 1: plentiful and it wouldn't be holding you back. So they 245 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:06,680 Speaker 1: were talking about a future where electronics would become so 246 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:10,359 Speaker 1: inexpensive that it would actually be less costly to just 247 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:14,040 Speaker 1: go out and buy a new whatever it was, rather 248 00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:18,400 Speaker 1: than to have your broken one repaired. World's turn on 249 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:24,119 Speaker 1: such thoughts. Fairchild Semiconductor began producing transistors and found customers 250 00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:28,240 Speaker 1: in the form of other big companies like IBM, so 251 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:31,480 Speaker 1: Fairchild was not selling stuff straight to consumers. You wouldn't 252 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:35,600 Speaker 1: go into your store and buy a fair Child Semiconductor product. 253 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:39,440 Speaker 1: Instead other companies that would use these components to build 254 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 1: out their products, which you might possibly buy, although IBM 255 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:47,920 Speaker 1: wasn't selling directly to consumers at that time either, so 256 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,960 Speaker 1: the computer systems they were designing were for big companies 257 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:55,320 Speaker 1: or the military. In fact, one of the earliest uses 258 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:59,280 Speaker 1: for Fairchild semiconductors was in a computer system that was 259 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:04,199 Speaker 1: for a military bomber. One of Gordon Moore's co workers 260 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:10,400 Speaker 1: and also someone with whom Moore would clash, was Jean Hoernie. Now, 261 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: Jean developed a new process for transistor manufacturing that improved 262 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:19,919 Speaker 1: reliability and performance, and all Gordy and Jean were leading 263 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:23,520 Speaker 1: to different groups that we're working on different approaches to transistors, 264 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:26,200 Speaker 1: and this would cause a bit of a divide, especially 265 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:30,080 Speaker 1: since Gordon Moore had the ear of Robert Noyce, who 266 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:32,240 Speaker 1: was kind of seen as a leader within the group. 267 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 1: So Moore was able to get his projects moved forward, 268 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:39,919 Speaker 1: sometimes at the expense or at least perceived to be 269 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:43,159 Speaker 1: at the expense of others like Jean hoo Ernie, and 270 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:47,960 Speaker 1: so there was tension within the group. By nineteen sixty, 271 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:51,680 Speaker 1: the Fairchild team oversaw the development of a silicon wafer 272 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 1: containing a four transistor circuit on it. This was a 273 00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:59,359 Speaker 1: huge deal. I mean, four transistors is nothing today, all right, 274 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:02,679 Speaker 1: We're talking about we're in an era where billions of 275 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:07,680 Speaker 1: components are on a microprocessor we have far far outstripped 276 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:11,879 Speaker 1: the capabilities of the nineteen sixty four transistor circuit, but 277 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 1: at the time it was truly a remarkable achievement. It 278 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:21,080 Speaker 1: was the first integrated circuit that used silicon as the 279 00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:25,440 Speaker 1: semiconductor material. So fair Child was not the first company 280 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:29,000 Speaker 1: to develop an integrated circuit, because Texas Instruments had already 281 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,359 Speaker 1: done it. Jack Kilby had created an integrated circuit, but 282 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:36,159 Speaker 1: that one used germanium as the semiconductor material, and he 283 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,240 Speaker 1: had done that back in nineteen fifty eight. The fair 284 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:42,600 Speaker 1: Child integrated circuit was the first to use silicon, and 285 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:46,399 Speaker 1: unlike germanium, silicon was much more cheap and plentiful and 286 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:52,440 Speaker 1: thus scalable. It made integrated circuits a viable technology for 287 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 1: all sorts of applications, including cheap electronics. So again, this 288 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: was one of those developed ments that would really shape 289 00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 1: the way technology would evolve from that point forward. By 290 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:11,320 Speaker 1: early nineteen sixty one, the Traitorous eight had split into 291 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: two groups of four because four of the eight would 292 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:19,080 Speaker 1: leave Fairchild Semiconductor and join a different company called Amelco, 293 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,760 Speaker 1: but Gordon Moore stayed with Fairchild along with Robert Noise, 294 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: and they continued to work on integrated circuits at Fairchild Semiconductor. 295 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:31,600 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty five, Gordon More submitted an article to 296 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 1: the journal Electronics that would forever be associated with him. 297 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 1: That article has the title Cramming More Components onto Integrated Circuits, 298 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:47,000 Speaker 1: but the observation More made in that article would later 299 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:51,440 Speaker 1: be dubbed by Carver Mead of cal Tech as Moore's Law. 300 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:55,920 Speaker 1: I'll explain more about Moore's law when we come back 301 00:20:56,080 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 1: from this quick break. Okay, So if you read Cramming 302 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:12,320 Speaker 1: More Components onto Integrated Circuits, which you can do. The 303 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,359 Speaker 1: article is freely available on the internet. You can just 304 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:19,359 Speaker 1: search for that title or search Gordon More article. They'll 305 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 1: find lots of links to it. Moore has a couple 306 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 1: of bangers right out of the gate. I mean, you 307 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:27,439 Speaker 1: might not think of them as that exciting, but I 308 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 1: think they were incredibly prescient. So the opening statement says, quote, 309 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:35,520 Speaker 1: with unit cost falling as the number of components per 310 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:40,080 Speaker 1: circuit rises by nineteen seventy five, economics may dictate squeezing 311 00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:43,720 Speaker 1: as many as sixty five thousand components on a single 312 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: silicon chip end quote. He also says at the beginning 313 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:52,239 Speaker 1: of the article quote the future of integrated electronics is 314 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:58,120 Speaker 1: the future of electronics itself end quote. And yeah, these 315 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: were really good observations. So what the heck is this 316 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:07,440 Speaker 1: article all about. It's mostly covering how economics push companies 317 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 1: to develop increasingly smaller components for integrated circuits and how 318 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:17,520 Speaker 1: those circuits power new kinds of electronics, and this perpetuates 319 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,119 Speaker 1: the need to pour more money into developing ways to 320 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:25,760 Speaker 1: cram even more components onto an inch of silicon wafer 321 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,679 Speaker 1: like a square inch of silicon wafer. So, in other words, 322 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:35,880 Speaker 1: it's the cycle of being able to create more powerful chips, 323 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:41,800 Speaker 1: which then drives down the cost per component on the chip. 324 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 1: The chips themselves might get more expensive, but the components 325 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,080 Speaker 1: get less expensive the actual individual components on the chip 326 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 1: do and that this in turn creates the ability for 327 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:57,639 Speaker 1: companies to make cheaper electronics, which goes onto fuel the 328 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:04,719 Speaker 1: development cycle. So again, this cyclical pattern that allows for 329 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:11,240 Speaker 1: the progression of of chip development. So balancing this out 330 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 1: is the scale of production and the ability to integrate 331 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,879 Speaker 1: these circuits into different products. So it almost becomes like 332 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:21,119 Speaker 1: a you can make it up in volume, because even 333 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:25,919 Speaker 1: though the component price might go down. The fact that 334 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,480 Speaker 1: you're putting more components on a chip means the individual 335 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:31,199 Speaker 1: chip might get more expensive to make. So yeah, like 336 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: per component, you're spending less, but then you're cramming way 337 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,199 Speaker 1: more components on a chip, so you spend more. And 338 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:41,560 Speaker 1: like I said, you have to find that sweet spot, 339 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:46,920 Speaker 1: that spot where the cost of manufacturing makes sense and 340 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:50,360 Speaker 1: that you're able to achieve profit by integrating that circuit 341 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:56,040 Speaker 1: into whatever electronic product you're pushing out there. Then more 342 00:23:56,160 --> 00:24:01,879 Speaker 1: makes another observation that quote the complexity for minimum component 343 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:05,199 Speaker 1: costs has increased at a rate of roughly a factor 344 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:09,160 Speaker 1: of two per year end quote. So here he's talking 345 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:12,160 Speaker 1: about how using the most cost effective means of producing 346 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:16,720 Speaker 1: integrated circuits, you would expect to see circuit complexity double 347 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 1: every year, at least over the short term. And he 348 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,840 Speaker 1: does acknowledge that this should change a little bit over time, 349 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: but that within ten years time from the publication of 350 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:30,960 Speaker 1: the article quote, the number of components per integrated circuit 351 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:34,479 Speaker 1: for minimum costs will be sixty five thousand end quote. 352 00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: So again he's saying that based upon what we're seeing 353 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,960 Speaker 1: right now, we should see the number of components on 354 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: a square inch of silicon chip double every year. Eventually 355 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 1: it would be every two years. So the entire article, 356 00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:54,320 Speaker 1: like I said's available online. You can read the whole thing, 357 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:57,000 Speaker 1: and it does touch on some other elements besides the 358 00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:59,960 Speaker 1: economic factors that drive the development in the first place, 359 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 1: including stuff like dealing with the heat that's generated by 360 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:08,280 Speaker 1: an integrated circuit that has tens of thousands of components 361 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,680 Speaker 1: that are all crammed next to each other. But later 362 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:16,800 Speaker 1: on people would reframe More's observation a bit and they 363 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:19,040 Speaker 1: started to look at it from a slightly different angle. 364 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: So instead of talking about the economic factors that would 365 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:25,439 Speaker 1: allow for this to happen and ultimately would result in 366 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:31,080 Speaker 1: cheaper electronics, they saw it as every two years, companies 367 00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:35,520 Speaker 1: double the number of components. Typically we're talking about transistors 368 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:39,240 Speaker 1: that they can fit on a silicon wafer. Later on, 369 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:42,800 Speaker 1: people would reframe it even more and say that essentially 370 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:47,439 Speaker 1: this means that computer companies double the processing power or 371 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:52,040 Speaker 1: in some cases, processing speed every two years. So you 372 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:53,960 Speaker 1: could say that if you order to buy a brand 373 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:58,040 Speaker 1: new computer today, that brand new computer would be twice 374 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:01,440 Speaker 1: as powerful as a similar model that you had purchased 375 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:05,760 Speaker 1: two years earlier. Now this also depends upon how you 376 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:09,080 Speaker 1: define powerful, So there's there's a lot of wiggle room 377 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:12,720 Speaker 1: for a law. Most laws don't allow for that much 378 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,040 Speaker 1: wiggle room, but Moore's law does. But again, it's because 379 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:22,160 Speaker 1: this all stems from an observation about the economics of 380 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:27,119 Speaker 1: producing semiconductor chips. It has since been seen as a 381 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:33,680 Speaker 1: benchmark that semiconductor companies aim to maintain. There's this pressure 382 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 1: to keep up with the demands or expectations that have 383 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:41,320 Speaker 1: been set by Moore's law. Now everyone pretty much acknowledges 384 00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:44,560 Speaker 1: that this trend is not infinitely sustainable, and that we're 385 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:47,919 Speaker 1: already bumping up against the physical limits of what we 386 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:52,000 Speaker 1: can do with traditional microchip architecture. But there is still 387 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,760 Speaker 1: this compulsion to keep the spirit of Moore's law going. 388 00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:58,280 Speaker 1: No one wants to be the one to say, all right, well, 389 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:01,400 Speaker 1: we had a good run. From here on out, we're 390 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,520 Speaker 1: not going to see progress at that same rate. It 391 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:07,480 Speaker 1: will still see progress, but it's going to slow down. 392 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,080 Speaker 1: Maybe it'll be every four or five years instead of 393 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,160 Speaker 1: every two. Now I'm fairly sure that at the time 394 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 1: Gordon Moore had no idea how widely known his observation 395 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 1: would become or the incredible impact it would have on 396 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:23,720 Speaker 1: the tech sector. But we're not finished with Gordon Moore yet. 397 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:27,280 Speaker 1: So nineteen sixty five, he publishes this article. At that time, 398 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,240 Speaker 1: he was still hard at work at Fairchild semi Conductor, 399 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,399 Speaker 1: but things were a bit rocky over there. For a 400 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,680 Speaker 1: few years, Fairchild was performing pretty well in the tech 401 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:41,400 Speaker 1: sector because it didn't have that many competitors in the space, 402 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: but as the late nineteen sixties approached, that was starting 403 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:50,160 Speaker 1: to change. And not helping things were some leadership struggles 404 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:55,800 Speaker 1: that were happening within Fairchild. So again, one of Moore's 405 00:27:55,840 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 1: fellow Traitorous Eight members, Robert Noyce, had really been acting 406 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:04,480 Speaker 1: as a leader among that group, and it was clear 407 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:09,160 Speaker 1: that he was seeking a leadership position at Fairchild as well. 408 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 1: But Fairchild had based its executive team out of its 409 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:17,800 Speaker 1: main company, which was on the East Coast. So in 410 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:21,800 Speaker 1: other words, the people who were overseeing Fairchild Semiconductor, they 411 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:25,920 Speaker 1: weren't even located on the same coast as Fairchild Semiconductor. 412 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:29,840 Speaker 1: They were managing it from across the United States. You know, 413 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:33,600 Speaker 1: this is back in the nineteen sixties, right, So there 414 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,480 Speaker 1: was a real disconnect there. You had people at Fairchild 415 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:42,160 Speaker 1: Semiconductor who felt that their executives had no real touch 416 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 1: on anything that they were doing, and therefore they weren't 417 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:49,200 Speaker 1: really the right people to be placed in leadership positions. 418 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:54,840 Speaker 1: There were also concerns about things like stock options, stuff 419 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:59,040 Speaker 1: like that that compensation packages for a fair Child Semiconductor 420 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 1: were not equal to the amount of work the amount 421 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 1: of profit their division was contributing to the overall company. 422 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 1: So there was this feeling that Fairchild Semiconductor was making 423 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:14,800 Speaker 1: a lot of money for Fairchild, but that they weren't 424 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:19,240 Speaker 1: being recognized for that, and in turn that Fairchild CEO 425 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: was using profits from the semiconductor division to fund acquisitions that, 426 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 1: to put it lightly, did not pan out. So Noise 427 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,320 Speaker 1: and more were feeling like their work was being exploited 428 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:34,480 Speaker 1: to fund bad business decisions, and also that they weren't 429 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:38,959 Speaker 1: really being compensated properly. By nineteen sixty seven, the overall 430 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:41,720 Speaker 1: Fairchild company wasn't doing well and the board of directors 431 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:46,080 Speaker 1: told its CEO to divest the company of those unprofitable acquisitions. 432 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:50,360 Speaker 1: So at that point the CEO resigned and the board 433 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:56,080 Speaker 1: very pointedly decided to avoid Noise as a replacement, even 434 00:29:56,120 --> 00:30:00,160 Speaker 1: though Noise had to step in at one point as 435 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:04,400 Speaker 1: part of a management committee to lead fair Child Semiconductor 436 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:08,240 Speaker 1: after the planned replacement a guy named Richard Hodgson didn't 437 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:12,760 Speaker 1: pan out, so once Noise found out that there was 438 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:14,960 Speaker 1: no chance he was going to get the job, even 439 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:20,000 Speaker 1: after he had to step into handle the mess that 440 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:24,080 Speaker 1: was left by the temporary CEO, he said, that's it. 441 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:27,400 Speaker 1: I'm out of here, and he convinced More to do 442 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,800 Speaker 1: the same. So the two ended up resigning from fair 443 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:34,520 Speaker 1: Child Semiconductor. They did this in nineteen sixty eight, and 444 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:36,720 Speaker 1: they turned to an investor they knew by the name 445 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:39,440 Speaker 1: of Arthur Rock, and together the three of them were 446 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:43,120 Speaker 1: able to secure funding to found a new company. And 447 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:46,040 Speaker 1: then the question came up, as what do we call 448 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:49,000 Speaker 1: this new company. It's going to be a company that 449 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:52,600 Speaker 1: makes semiconductors and transistors and integrated circuits, but what do 450 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:56,440 Speaker 1: we call it. The first idea they dismissed right away, 451 00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:00,800 Speaker 1: which was to call it the more Noise Company. And 452 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 1: if you are going to buy electronic components, you probably 453 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:07,640 Speaker 1: don't want to think about more noise than you know 454 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:10,280 Speaker 1: competing products might have, right, So instead they went with 455 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:15,240 Speaker 1: m Electronics or sometimes it was m in Electronics, but 456 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:17,880 Speaker 1: that was a very temporary name. By the end of 457 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:21,000 Speaker 1: the month, they had decided to change their company name 458 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:23,840 Speaker 1: so that it would reflect what they were focusing on, 459 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:28,800 Speaker 1: which were integrated electronics. So they wanted to call it Intel. 460 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:33,000 Speaker 1: And there was one small hiccup, which was that there 461 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:36,800 Speaker 1: was already a hotel chain called Intel Co. That had 462 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:42,520 Speaker 1: trademarked the term Intel, so they had to actually negotiate 463 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:47,000 Speaker 1: with Intelco. And purchase the rights to Intel, which they 464 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:51,400 Speaker 1: did do and they were able to create their new company. 465 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:53,920 Speaker 1: So the early focus for Intel was developing stuff like 466 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:59,280 Speaker 1: metal oxide semiconductor or MOSS technologies. More would later say 467 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:02,720 Speaker 1: that it was the perfect timing to get into that business, 468 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:07,000 Speaker 1: that MOSS was a technology that was just difficult enough 469 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:11,240 Speaker 1: to require ingenuity and innovation, but not so difficult that 470 00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:13,880 Speaker 1: a startup would just falter right away while trying to 471 00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:17,920 Speaker 1: develop the tech, Intel became known for developing memory chips 472 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:21,200 Speaker 1: in those early days. Memory is where computers store data 473 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 1: for the purposes of operations, and there are different kinds 474 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:27,440 Speaker 1: of memory. So there's like ROM that refers to read 475 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:30,560 Speaker 1: only memory, so that's memory that holds data that a 476 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:34,160 Speaker 1: computer can read from, but the computer cannot overwrite or 477 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:38,959 Speaker 1: change that data. Then there's RAM, or random access memory. 478 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,760 Speaker 1: This kind of acts like short term memory in people. 479 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:45,000 Speaker 1: So this is where computers will store data that they 480 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:48,160 Speaker 1: may soon need for various operations. There are lots of 481 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:51,480 Speaker 1: different types of RAM, and Intel's work in developing memory 482 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:55,120 Speaker 1: chips solidified the company's spot in the tech sector, and 483 00:32:55,240 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 1: it rapidly became quite successful. While Robert Noyce as the 484 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:03,320 Speaker 1: corporate leader for the first seven years of Intel's existence, 485 00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:06,040 Speaker 1: he transitioned to become the chairman of the board in 486 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy five, and at that time Gordon Moore became 487 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:14,760 Speaker 1: Intel's president. Four years later, nineteen seventy nine, Gordon Moore 488 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:18,080 Speaker 1: became the chairman of the board and the CEO of Intel. 489 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:21,200 Speaker 1: He would lead the company in that role until nineteen 490 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:24,440 Speaker 1: eighty seven. At that point, he resigned as CEO, but 491 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:27,520 Speaker 1: he remained the chairman of the board. He was named 492 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:31,920 Speaker 1: chairman emeritus in nineteen ninety seven, and he finally resigned 493 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:35,160 Speaker 1: his position on the board in two thousand and six. 494 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:41,800 Speaker 1: So he led Intel while the company was really starting 495 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:45,560 Speaker 1: to become a powerful player in the tech space like 496 00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:47,800 Speaker 1: this is also the time where we started to see 497 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:51,800 Speaker 1: the emergence of the personal computer and a lot of 498 00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:54,760 Speaker 1: the things that Gordon Moore had predicted, this idea that 499 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:59,800 Speaker 1: electronics and computer systems would become inexpensive enough for the 500 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:02,760 Speaker 1: average person to be able to buy them, they were 501 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:05,640 Speaker 1: becoming true. So the predictions he had made in the 502 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:08,520 Speaker 1: sixties were starting to be realized in the seventies and eighties, 503 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:14,439 Speaker 1: and it really showed how his predictions were well founded, right. 504 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:16,800 Speaker 1: It showed that good Moore had a lot of foresight 505 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:20,680 Speaker 1: back in the sixties. And yeah, Intel would see even 506 00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:27,600 Speaker 1: greater heights after Moore's leadership. But the success really did 507 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:32,960 Speaker 1: affect Moore's life significantly. He became a billionaire, and in fact, 508 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:38,560 Speaker 1: he and his wife established philanthropic and charitable efforts for 509 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:42,960 Speaker 1: lots of different causes, including things like environmental conservation. That 510 00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:46,279 Speaker 1: was really important to Gordon Moore, and he contributed a 511 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:49,799 Speaker 1: lot of money to conservation efforts, specifically in the San 512 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:56,080 Speaker 1: Francisco area, but he also funded science organizations, he funded 513 00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:01,600 Speaker 1: medical organizations. He and his wife were really passionate about 514 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:04,880 Speaker 1: this and they ended up donating lots and lots like 515 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:10,239 Speaker 1: hundreds of millions of dollars billions, even to philanthropic efforts, 516 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:13,680 Speaker 1: so he got a big name in that field as well. 517 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:21,040 Speaker 1: He also was awarded more titles and awards and honorary 518 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:24,680 Speaker 1: degrees and things of that nature from almost an endless 519 00:35:24,719 --> 00:35:29,520 Speaker 1: list of universities, research centers, and scientific organizations. It's easy 520 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:34,960 Speaker 1: to understand why because again his pivotal role in creating 521 00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:37,960 Speaker 1: the integrated circuit. Like he was one, he was not 522 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:41,480 Speaker 1: the only person, he was one person who contributed to that, 523 00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:47,680 Speaker 1: but he consistently was an important figure in that. And 524 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:53,200 Speaker 1: it's undeniable that the technology we have today it is 525 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:56,759 Speaker 1: the way it is largely because of Gordon Moore and 526 00:35:56,920 --> 00:36:01,000 Speaker 1: the people he worked with. He retired to the state 527 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:05,120 Speaker 1: of Hawaii. That's where he passed away on March twenty fourth, 528 00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:10,000 Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, at the age of ninety four. And yeah, 529 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:15,200 Speaker 1: he leaves behind an incredible legacy. It sounds to me 530 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:17,520 Speaker 1: like he wasn't always the easiest person to work with, 531 00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:22,560 Speaker 1: although probably miles easier than people like William Shockley, but 532 00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:28,880 Speaker 1: he definitely had an incredible passion for his work and 533 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:32,640 Speaker 1: for the science of chemistry. And you know, I really 534 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:38,080 Speaker 1: find it amazing to see people who are lead researchers 535 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:40,319 Speaker 1: in a field, in a scientific field, who then are 536 00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:45,400 Speaker 1: able to leverage the things they learn into practical applications. 537 00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:49,040 Speaker 1: Like when you make that transition from science into technology, 538 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:54,000 Speaker 1: which is just science realized for practical applications, That to 539 00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:57,000 Speaker 1: me is where the magic happens. I know that it's 540 00:36:57,000 --> 00:36:59,680 Speaker 1: a little contradictory. We're not really talking magic, but you 541 00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:03,600 Speaker 1: know kind of what I mean that inspiration that to 542 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:07,680 Speaker 1: me is a very very human quality. All right, that's 543 00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:10,840 Speaker 1: it for this episode. Hope you enjoyed it. Hope you 544 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:13,480 Speaker 1: are all well. If you would like to reach out 545 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:15,760 Speaker 1: to me and suggest a topic for a future episode, 546 00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:18,360 Speaker 1: please do so. You can do so on Twitter. The 547 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:21,840 Speaker 1: handle for the show is tech Stuff HSW or you 548 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:24,919 Speaker 1: can reach out on the iHeartRadio app. It is free 549 00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:27,680 Speaker 1: to download, It is free to use. 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